Cape Town – People living in the suburbs around Deer Park in Cape Town, where a fire had raged for most of the night, woke on Tuesday in homes covered in ash after a horrible smoky night.
“It feels worse every time although I guess it can’t be since we were not evacuated, as we have been in the past,” said one Devil’s Peak resident.
She added that on driving home at about 10.30 on Monday after a night out she had suspected an evacuation might be underway since there was so much traffic. It was not an evacuation, just curiosity getting the better of people, who were driving around trying to get a peak of the action.
Emergency services put out a plea on social media for people who did not need to be in the Deer Park area to stay away and let the emergency services move freely.
At just after 6am on Tuesday two helicopters started flying overhead alarming residents that the fire may have started again.
The wind had mercifully died down though and the choppers could be seen ferrying water to douse any remaining fire.
Late on Monday night ER24 spokesperson Russel Meiring said emergency services were still on the scene at the fire that was burning in the Vredehoek area.
"Upon closer inspection, services have found that, fortunately, no homes have been destroy as initially thought. Sadly, severe damage has been caused to the surrounding areas as well as to the vegetation," said Meiring.
"Fortunately, no injuries have been reported."